Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden would not discuss extensions with any Orioles players during the 2023 season, preferring to focus on the task at hand, but he would explore deals as soon as November with Gunnar Henderson, Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman.
Whether the Orioles can follow the path of the Braves and lock up their best young players for the long haul has been a point of discussion since last year, but Bowden says he would shelve those discussions — for now. The Orioles are 34-20 and in second place in the AL East entering play on May 30, and the former Reds and Nationals GM says that’s where the players’ focus should remain.
“Please don’t have this don’t have this conversation until November,” Bowden said on Glenn Clark Radio May 25. “I don’t want to talk to Rutschman. I don’t want to talk to Mullins. I don’t want to talk to anyone until November. I do not want to do anything to have any player on this team be thinking about a contract on any night. Every game is going to be critical in this division. It’s the best division in sports right now. Anybody can win. Every game’s going to be critical. I don’t want your mind to waver. Let’s play this season out.”
Bowden is now a host on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, an analyst for CBS Sports HQ and writer for The Athletic. As such, he has been following the Orioles’ rebuild closely. He lauded the work Baltimore GM Mike Elias has done targeting hitters at the top of drafts and building through the farm system, but now comes the work of trading for help at the deadline and extending the franchise’s building blocks.
One of those building blocks is Rutschman, the 25-year-old catcher whose arrival sparked a new era of Orioles baseball. He isn’t scheduled to hit free agency until after the 2027 season, but Bowden would explore an extension after this season. Bowden said Rutschman “is the best catcher on Planet Earth and is going to be for a decade” and suggested the star would command a deal of more than $300 million.
“Accept the pain and understand it’s worth the investment,” Bowden said. “You don’t want to have to deal with this issue, and it’s only going to get more expensive. All you’ve got to do is look at the history, the last 30 years in Major League Baseball and look at where salary goes. I’m just telling you, you want to do it early in the career. You don’t want these contracts like the Padres are doing where they’re giving these guys the money 35 to 41 years old when they’re not going to be performing because nobody does. I want to do it now, young.”
Bowden would also be interested in talking to Mullins, the 28-year-old center fielder with the power-and-speed combination that makes him a force atop the order, and Henderson, the 21-year-old infielder with a superstar ceiling. Bowden didn’t estimate what type of contracts those two players could command, but it figures that those deals would run into the nine-figure territory.
However, Henderson is represented by Scott Boras, who generally prefers to allow his clients to establish their value on the free-agent market.
“I would do Gunnar Henderson now,” Bowden said. “I wouldn’t wait until he [breaks out]. When he does it, it’s only going to cost more. I would do it at the end of this year, before he’s done it because he’s a sure thing.”
For more from Bowden, listen to the full interview here:
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